SITES WHERE SILVERWARE
WAS MANUFACTURED AND TRADED:
PLATERIA D. GARCIA

Dionisio García Gómez was a renowned Madrid silversmith in the first half of the 20th century. After his apprenticeship to silversmith DH Adradas he opened his own workshop in calle Fernán Nuñez. Soon after, he became Royal Silversmith to the King Alfonso XIII and moved to Ferraz 17, where the factory operated with a hundred of workers. Continuing his success and expansion, in 1920 he opened a store in calle de la Sal, 2 and 8, and later in Esparteros, 16 and 18. Dionisio García Gómez died in 1925, at the age of 37, leaving a thriving business to his widow Doña Carmen Marquis and to his sons Dionysius, Luis Rafael (Faluchi) and Fernando.
The management of the business was assumed by D. Antonio Sánchez Fernández, the then chief of the staff and personal friend of Dionisio.
The factory continued to expand its activity, opening two more salerooms in Barcelona (calle de Fernando, 6 and calle Fontanella, 18). A new building was constructed to host a larger factory in calle Juan de la Hoz, 6 (with more than 200 employees) and another store was opened in Madrid (Príncipe, 10).
The company, to support its workers, created a consumer cooperative, a mutual aid society, an Academy of free education and a library. Plateria D. Garcia can be considered a family business since many family members worked in the firm. By 1981 the company went bankrupt having to close both the factory and the shops.
His best known mark is an amphora inside an oval and the oldest pieces bear the inscription "D. García".
(information and images: courtesy Jose Luis Muñoz)



FACTORIES, PLANTS, SALESROOMS, SHOPS AND WORKSHOPS: OLD IMAGES